- Thanks to a furious final sprint, Gose swims to Olympic bronze.
Utterly exhausted, Isabel Gose clung to the starting block, lacking the strength to celebrate. Even in the water, she received congratulations from her good friend and training partner Leonie Märtens. The bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle is Gose's greatest achievement so far.
"I can't quite believe it yet. I was so nervous, you can't imagine," she said on ARD. "Now all the pressure I put on myself is gone. I'm so proud of what we've achieved."
Gose had to settle only for exceptional swimmer and gold winner Katie Ledecky from the USA and the second-placed Frenchwoman Anastasia Kirpitschnikova. The German had a neck-and-neck duel for bronze with the Italian Simona Quadarella until the final lap, securing the bronze with a furious final sprint. "I just thought, screw it. I was fourth the whole time, and I had to prove I could be faster than her," she said. She didn't have time for a longer interview: "I think I have to go because I'm a bit worried I'll miss the medal ceremony."
The 22-year-old brought the second medal to the German Swimming Association at these Summer Games. Lukas Märtens had won the Olympic title in the 400m freestyle the day before.
Now, his former girlfriend and teammate from Magdeburg could also celebrate participating in the medal ceremony. Gose finished in a national record time of 15:41.16 minutes, demonstrating German strength once again on the longest pool distance. At the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Sarah Wellbrock (then Sarah Koehler) also won bronze.
Medal was already in the back of her mind
With one gold and one bronze, German pool swimmers have already matched their strongest Olympic record since the 2008 Beijing Games, when Britta Steffen won two golds.
Gose's performance in the preliminary round the day before had raised hopes of a medal. After qualifying for the final with the fourth-fastest time, the athlete coached by long-distance national coach Bernd Berkhahn said, "I have to regenerate well, and then it's about who's tactically the smartest and who has the most stamina." She had the medal in mind but didn't want to put pressure on herself.
She referred to her former partner Märtens for her motto. "Lukas has always said it: Anything can happen, nothing must. And that's how it is," she said. "I just try to seize my chance and show how hard I've worked."
Season plan on track
Gose is still good friends with Märtens. How close they still are emotionally was evident to the German TV audience after Märtens' Olympic victory. In the ARD interview, Gose cried with joy over his success and said, "He can be so proud of himself, he deserves it. He does incredible things in training." Now, Gose stands in the spotlight as a medal winner.
Gose showed that her path in the Olympic season, with the World Championships in February and a long high-altitude training camp before the Summer Games, was the right one for her. At the World Championships in Doha, which some top swimmers skipped in favor of Olympic preparation, Gose gained more experience on the biggest stage, taking home three World Championship medals. Now, she has her first Olympic medal. The second German finalist, Märtens' sister Leonie, finished eighth.
"Leonie was thrilled to offer her congratulations to you after your impressive performance," a team official mentioned. "Congratulations to you once again, Isabel. Your determination and hard work have truly paid off."
